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Denmark accuses Kurdish ROJ TV station of
promoting PKK group
1.9.2010 |
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September 1, 2010
COPENHAGEN,
Denmark, — A Kurdish-language TV station with a
Danish broadcasting license has been charged with
promoting a group linked to terrorism, Danish
prosecutors said Tuesday.
Top prosecutor Joergen Steen Soerensen said that Roj-TV
is helping promote the PKK, or the Tureky Kurdistan
Workers' Party, which is considered a 'terrorist'
organization by Ankara, U.S., the PKK continues to
be on the blacklist list in EU despite court ruling
which
overturned a decision
to place the Kurdish rebel group PKK and its
political wing on the European Union's terror list.
Since 1984 the PKK [Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan] took up arms for self-rule in the
mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey
[Turkey-Kurdistan] which has claimed around 45,000
lives of Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK
guerrillas.
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Kurdish ROJ TV |
Turkey accuses Roj-TV of
being a mouthpiece for the PKK.
The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with Turkish in the
country's Kurdish areas, the party also demanded an
end to ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and
constitution against Kurds, ranting them full
political freedoms.
A large Turkey's Kurdish community estimate to over 20
million openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK
rebels.
Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population
as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural
rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish
language and private Kurdish language courses with
the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish
politicians say the measures fall short of their
expectations.
The PKK is considered a 'terrorist' organization by
Ankara, U.S., the PKK continues to be on the
blacklist list in EU despite court ruling which
overturned a decision
to place the Kurdish rebel group PKK and its
political wing on the European Union's terror list.
According to Soerensen, Roj-TV has "persistently"
aired shows with interviews of PKK members and
supporters but also about skirmishes between Kurds
and Turkish forces. The station's content was "aimed
at promoting and supporting the activities of the
terrorist organization PKK" and its political wing,www.ekurd.netKongra-Gel,
the prosecutor said.
The programs "must be regarded as having the
characteristics of propaganda in support of PKK,"
Soerensen said. The charges came after "extremely
comprehensive investigations" of the connections
between Roj-TV and PKK, he added.
The charges also include Mesopotamia Broadcast A/S
METV, a company behind Roj-TV.
Roj-TV has a Danish broadcasting license but has no
studios in Denmark. Calls to the station were not
answered, but Roj-TV officials have previously
denied terror links.
In Turkey, a senior Foreign Ministry official called
the decision "a very positive development" and said
"it's something Turkey has been asking for all
along."
The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line
with Turkish rules that bar civil servants from
speaking to journalists without prior authorization.
Under Denmark's anti-terror law, a person can face
prison up to 10 years for supporting a terrorist
organization.
Justice Minister Lars Barfoed welcomed the decision,
saying it now was up to a court of law to consider
Roj-TV's activities.
No date has been set for the trial, which will take
place at Copenhagen City Court.
Prosecutors also said they would ask the Danish
Radio and Television Board to revoke the station's
license, which was issued over six years ago, based
on criminal violations.
Danish-Turkish relations have long been strained
over Kurdish groups based in Denmark.
In 1995, a political arm of the PKK opened its
fourth European office in Copenhagen, sparking
protests from the Turkish Embassy. The office later
closed because of a lack of funding.
In 2000, Turkey protested that a Kurdish-language
satellite TV station, Mesopotamia TV, was allowed to
broadcast from Denmark to Europe, the Middle East
and northern Africa.
And in 2005, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan boycotted a news conference in Copenhagen to
protest the presence of Roj-TV journalists.
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author or news agency, AP | Agencies
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